Position: REACH GIS/Database Manager- Uganda

Contract duration: Fixed

Duty Station: Kampala-Uganda

Anticipated Starting Date: Feb 2021

ACTED is an independent international, private, non-partisan and non-profit organization that operates according to principles of strict neutrality, political and religious impartiality, and non-discrimination.

ACTED was created in 1993 to support populations affected by the conflict in Afghanistan. Based in Paris, France, ACTED now operates in 38 countries worldwide. ACTED sectors of intervention include emergency relief, food security, health promotion, economic development, education & training, microfinance, local governance & institutional support, and cultural promotion. For more information, please visit our website at www.acted.org.

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

POSITION PROFILE:

IMPACT, as part of the “U-LEARN” consortium led by Save the Children International’s Response Innovation Lab (RIL) and in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (UK), will implement a three year cross-sectoral field-driven learning programme for the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development’s Building Resilience and an Effective Emergency Refugee Response (BRAER) business case. U-LEARN will focus on improving quality, accountability and innovation in the Uganda refugee response through the delivery of an integrated programme to enable continuous improvements to the response in Uganda whilst ensuring better accountability to refugee and host communities. The consortium will optimize existing financial resources, systems for Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and knowledge assets to enhance learning with each partner responsible for the implementation of one component. Consortium partners will develop synergies amongst the findings and make results appropriately and easily accessible to various audiences through a Learning Hub, established as a key output of the programme.

IMPACT will provide oversight of aid delivery by DFID’s partners and mitigate risk through systematic and regular visits to DFID-funded project sites to independently verify (IV) the approach taken by partners in a mixed-methods and multi-pronged approach, centered on risk-reduction and clear Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP). IMPACT’s activities will seek to capture detailed information about aid delivery and experience of beneficiaries in close coordination with IRC. These experiences will be conveyed to both DFID and their partners, and other actors in the broader humanitarian response as necessary and will directly inform the AAP and learning components of U-LEARN. IMPACT will take a flexible approach to IV to allow for real time adaptations, and to ensure activities are useful and relevant. All activities will be tailored to provide quantitative and qualitative information across refugee settlements where BRAER partners operate.

Functions

Under the functional supervision of the U-Learn Research Manager and technical supervision of the candidate will be responsible for managing the processes and outputs related to GIS products, remote sensing, and other data tasks, including web applications. The GIS/Database Manager will provide support on all U-Learn research cycles, including methodology design, data quality assurance, analysis, and spatial verification, through the development of automated systems and the functional management of GIS (GISO) and Database Officers (DBOs). The GIS/Database Manager will ensure the implementation of GIS and DB activities including preparation, implementation, and follow-up, and ensure sufficient quality and compliance with internal procedures, with technical support from the GIS/Data Specialist.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Manage GIS and Database staff, supporting all work, training, and capacity development

  • Manage 1-2 GIS/Database Officers, providing daily support, training, and capacity building to support career development.
  • Build overall GIS and data analysis/automation capacity of team through formal and informal trainings.
  • Provide regular support and technical backstopping to all GIS/Database staff members.
  • Work with the GIS specialist, technical focal points, and IMPACT HQ members to identify and implement best GIS, remote sensing, and other technical practices.
  • Participate in regular meetings with GIS and database staff to assess progress on research cycles and review/track progress of work plans.
  • Provide oversight in GIS procedures regarding GIS data management and organization, data security, file sharing, output tracking, and asset management

2. Ensure GIS and database functions within Research Cycle by working in close coordination with assessment staff

  • Ensure that assessments are planned in line with GIS/database input and support.
  • Identify available GIS data to inform secondary data review.
  • Ensure GIS requirements of research cycle/assessments are met.
  • Develop geo-spatial analysis of assessment areas to be used, as relevant, in developing daily assessment plans, field movement plans, and accompanying operational maps for field teams.
  • Support development of quantitative sampling frames and ensure that collected data is geo-referenced, enabling the production of maps and related products.
  • Facilitate data cleaning and analysis automation process for assessments. Ensure accurate linkages between spatial databases and assessment data.
  • Work with assessment team to identify key spatial trends in assessment data or data gaps.

3. Produce and review GIS products (including maps and web products) to standalone or incorporate into other outputs

  • Work with GIS/Data Specialist and assessment team to identify map information needs based on project objectives, and support GIS and Database Officers in carrying out the work.
  • Work with GIS/Data Specialist and assessment team to identify narrative and key findings related to spatial analysis to communicate in output.
  • Identify and access map data sources to provide additional context to analyses and outputs.
  • Oversee the creation high quality maps, infographics, and dashboards/interactive maps as needed in close partnership with assessment team and in line with IMPACT global guidelines.
  • Review and validate all GIS and spatial analysis products prior to IMPACT HQ review

Any other tasks need to ensure the success of the IMPACT mission

The IMPACT GIS/Database Manager may be called upon to work on other IMPACT programmes in various locations in country as needs dictate and the security situation allows

Others:

i) Confidentiality and Data Protection

The candidate will maintain the strictest confidentiality of data and processes. He/she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of information and data.

ii) Accountability to Communities and Beneficiaries

The staff member is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the communities IMPACT and partners work are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about IMPACT programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies. This is the responsibility of every IMPACT staff member.

Qualifications and Experience

  • Master’s degree in GIS, mathematics, statistics, computer science or related field. M.S. level statistics courses in R required
  • Advanced experience analyzing complex data with R and/or Python required, preferably related to a humanitarian context
  • Advanced experience with QGIS and ArcGIS required
  • Minimum of 5 years of experience working in information management, database management in a similar role
  • Advanced understanding of database management required
  • Previous experience with java-script, Tableau, and mobile data collection preferred
  • Excellent team management (via in-person and remote work) and capacity building skills;
  • Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility;
  • Fluency in English is required;
  • Ability to work independently.

How to apply

Qualified Uganda Nationals with the required skills are invited to submit their applications accompanied by detailed curriculum vitae and cover letter as a single document i.e. with the cover letter being on the first page and the CV starting on the second page, detailing three work related referees and contacts to uganda.jobs@acted.org and received on or before 5.00PM on 26th January 2021 with the subject line “GIS/DATABASE MANAGER” Note that applications sent without this exact subject line will not be shortlisted.

Please do not attach any other documents while sending your applications, if required they will be requested at a later stage.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

ACTED will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind. Further, ACTED has not retained any agent in connection with recruitment.

ACTED is committed to protecting beneficiaries within our programmes from exploitation and abuse and any kind of misconduct. ACTED has specific policies, including PSEA and Child Protection, which outlines the expected behavior and the responsibility of all staff, beneficiaries, consultants, and other stakeholders and has zero tolerance towards misconduct. Any candidate offered a job with ACTED will be expected to sign ACTED’s organizational Policies and Code of Conduct as an annex to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

ACTED is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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